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A walk into the past

PHOTO:T. SINGARAVELOU

STORIES IN STONE History unfolds on Puducherry’s promenade

To walk down Puducherry’s famous Goubert Avenue, or Beach Road as it is referred to, is a lesson in history. Every building on the road, once known as Cours Chabrol, has a story to tell.

As someone new to this little coastal town, I set out on a heritage walk to find out the history behind these extraordinary buildings. And for this, I sought the help of P. Raja, scholar and writer of many insightful books on Puducherry.

We start from the north end of the beach. Across the road from the Kargil war memorial on the beach side, is the picture-perfect French Institute of Pondicherry, set up in 1954 as Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient. Right ahead, where the full face of the sea is visible, is the French Consulate. The consulate and the French Institute occupy the site where the cemetery of Saint Lazare was once located.

Past the Rue de la Lauriston, is Park Selvaradjou, where the statue of Selvaraju Chettiar, an erstwhile politician who was killed, stands. He apparently owned a big stretch onthe beachfront, starting from the park, and ending near today’s Sea Side Guest House . All India Radio Pondicherry used to operate from where the famous Hotel Promenade and the adjoining ‘Pudumai’ building are now located, before shifting to Gorimedu.

The 29-metre-tall lighthouse that stands on the beachfront was first lit in 1836. Although this building was abandoned in 1970, it continues to be an important landmark on the beachfront, and will soon be converted into a museum.

Just ahead, a 4.25-metre-tall statue of Mahatma Gandhi faces that of Jawaharlal Nehru, at Gandhi Thidal. Eight exquisitely carved monolithic pillars dating back to the 17th Century flank the Gandhi statue. These pillars were brought here from Gingee after the capture of the fort in 1751. They were erected in 1866.

Did you know there is a tunnel below the Gandhi statue that leads all the way to Gingee? “I used to go there to play as a child,” recalls Raja. “The Government even took efforts to desilt the tunnel. But, a few people died of suffocation while walking through it, and the tunnel was closed for good in the 1960s,” he says.

The rods visible above the water behind the Gandhi statue mark the spot where the old jetty stood. “At the end of the pier, there was a canteen that sold fish cutlets and café noir,” reminisces Raja. “My father used to take us to the canteen regularly,” he smiles.

The Douane Customs building, where the offices of the Central Excise Department continue to function, has its own story to tell. The mast on the building was used by the French to hoist their flag till November 1954; and, India chose the same building to hoist its flag for the first time in Pondicherry.

Four pillars stand guarding the wall, on which are engraved the names of deceased Pondicherrians who fought on behalf of their rulers in the First World War. The statue of a soldier head bent, rifle in hand, symbolises the disasters of the war . In honour of these soldiers, the war memorial was erected in 1971; it continues to be the most striking structure on the promenade.

The only building on the beach side is the Port office, which has now been renovated in keeping with French architecture, and reopened as Le Café, one of the most popular hangouts by the beach.

Across the road is the magnificent Mairie Hall, where the offices of the Puducherry municipality function. The foundations of this building, then known as Hotel de Ville, were laid in 1870. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural heritage (INTACH) hopes to restore the building to its former glory soon.

The back of the marble statue of Joan of Arc is visible from the promenade. Located within the Church of the Capuchins complex, the statue was installed in 1923.

At the Southern end of the beach, the statue of Joseph Francois Dupleix, Governor of Pondicherry in the 1740s, stands neglected. This bronze statue was made in 1869 in Paris, and then shipped to Pondicherry to be erected at Gandhi Thidal, where the statue of Jawaharlal Nehru stands now. It was latershifted to its present location, near the Park Guest House.

In these days of increasing industrialisation, and with a proposal for a port on the cards, a walk along the promenade is all it takes to recognise the need to preserve the heritage of this beautiful coastal town.

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